Kudos to the many people who helped with Heritage Week
Many thanks to all students, faculty and staff who participated in our third annual Heritage Week, making it such a rousing success! From the treasure hunt and faculty-staff recognition that kicked off the week’s events to the videos in Scooter’s that ended it, the exploration of our St. Thomas heritage in photos, videos and music was interesting, thoughtful and fun.
The week was filled with celebration of our history, great food, stimulating discussions, a great ecumenical prayer breakfast and ODK Dean’s Reception, and outstanding music that drew our attention to the “Seasons of St. Thomas” theme. We even had a visit from Thomas Aquinas himself!
To thank everyone would be difficult, but we must recognize Father James Lavin, whose 70 years on our campus were celebrated through archival photos, a video and memorabilia; Miriam Williams and Jane Canney, who were our Minneapolis and St. Paul emcees at the receptions; Bernie Brady for his leadership of our Common Text discussion on “Who was this man, Thomas Aquinas?” and our table leaders for their assistance.
Thanks go to Brian Dusbiber and his committee for the execution of an outstanding ecumenical prayer breakfast; Angie Broeker, her husband and the members of the St. Thomas Chamber Singers for wonderful thematic music; STAR for providing dessert and Lavinburgers at the St. Paul reception; Kris Cowles for his “saintly” portrayal of St. Thomas Aquinas; Ron Riley for his usual impeccable judgment and execution of our videos, along with his staff (both Minneapolis and St. Paul; Bill Kirchgessner for his calm help with the preparation of wonderful promotional materials; and Kaleb Sargent for always being there when we needed to work on our Web page or common text materials.
Also, thanks go to Jerry Sweeney, David McKitterick and their catering staffs for the ideas and execution of the receptions; Mark Jensen and Ingrid Johnsen for their help with our photo displays; the Service Center for its careful production of our many printed materials, Father Dan Ostdiek and the Dominican Friars for the robe for Thomas Aquinas.
We also thank the College of Business for allowing us the use of the Schulze Hall Atrium for our Minneapolis reception and the Dean of Student Life and our students for the use of the Blue Lagoon for our St. Paul reception.
Above all, special thanks must go to our Heritage Week Committee, the creative individuals whose assistance makes the planning and execution of Heritage Week seem easy. This year’s Heritage Week Committee includes: Gary Ales, Alumni Association; Joe Brom, Chemistry Department; Phyllis Dykhuizen, School of Education; Amy Graff, Student Affairs; Hallie Pattee, Registrar’s Office; Birdie Ramacher, Wellness Center; Bob Reed, Physical Plant; Jim Rogers, Center for Irish Studies; David Welch, Graduate School of Professional Psychology; Jim Winterer (anonymous poet), University Relations; and Helen Hunter, Office for Mission.
All of these people helped with the various preparations for this event, from ideas for the theme, to hiding the treasure, to digging up old photos and fight songs from our archives, to finding students to put up posters and make banners, and to even to trying their hand at banner-making. What a great group!
Finally, thanks to Father Dease for his leadership – and for paying for the luncheons!
